Just seven of 33 Honduran national police officers who failed confidence tests in fall 2012 have been dismissed from the force, exemplifying the difficulties of reforming the country’s highly corrupt police.

The DIECP, the investigative unit in charge of evaluating police officers, ordered the suspension of the officers after they failed to pass a series of confidence tests — including lie detector tests and psychological assessments — in September. The government later decided to re-evaluate these officers.

According to El Heraldo, 26 police who failed the tests remain on the force as of March 2013, with some of these occupying positions as department heads.

A 2012 law makes the failure of any aspect of these tests grounds for immediate dismissal from the force.

Overall, head of the DIECP Eduardo Villanueva said that 230 Honduran police officers of varying ranks who have failed confidence tests have not been removed from the force, according to La Prensa. He said that each of the cases will be analyzed to see why the officers were not dismissed.

Head of the independent Commission on Public Security Reform (CRSP) Victor Meza has called the Honduran police force “unreformable,” and blamed the Public Ministry for a lack of cooperation. The commission was created in May 2012 to assist in the process of police reform.

The exams are just one component of the government’s larger strategy to clean up the police force. In October 2012, the state announced plans to let go of 100 officers, though the process leading up to this was criticized for being slow-moving. The CRSP has also complained that it has not yet received the funding it was promised, further hobbling reform efforts.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, provided that it is attributed to InSight Crime in the byline, with a link to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.